Belt buckle



May 18 1926. 1,585,031

1 H. HARTMAN BELT BUCKLE Filed March 10 1925 [flue/7 70rfirry Harri/war? Patented May 18, 1926 HARRY HARTMAN, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

BELT BUCKLE.

Application filed March 10, 1925. Serial No. 14,480.

This invention relates to improvements in belt buckles.

[One object of the invention is to provide an improved belt buckle having a readily detachable emblem carrying member.

Heretofore, it has been common practice of merchants sell ng beltbuckles to keep large supply of the belt buckles on hand, including the various types of belt buckles and also the various types of emblems which are desirable upon the various types of buckles. This requires that a large stock be continually kept on hand by the merchant. Other merchants have found it advisable to keep a stock of the various types of buckles on hand and to have the various emblems desired by the purchaser engraved or otherwise applied upon the buckle for the particular purchaser. This method of market- 'ing the buckle has been found unsatisfactory for the reason that considerable delay is usually required to engrave or otherwise apply the emblem to the belt buckle.

It is an object of this invention, t ierefore, to provide a belt buckle having an emblem carrying member which can be readily attached to or detached from the belt buckle, enabling merchants selling the belt buckles to keep a stock of buckles on hand of the various types of buckles and to also keep a stock of the various emblem carrying mem bers which have been found desirable by the public in general. This construction enables a particular type of belt buckle to be selected by a purchaser and also enables the purchaser to select the particular kind of emblem which he wishes upon the buckle and permits the emblem carrying member to be readily attached to the buckle, so that there is no delay in buying the buckle as heretofore experienced when the buckles are engraved. Y

A further obj ectof the invention is to provide an improved locking device for locking the free end of a belt to the belt buckle.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, where Figure 1 is a perspective view of the belt to which the improved buckle has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the buckle;

wherein similar reference characters designate, similar parts throughout, the beltbuckle consists of a face 10 from which flanges 11 and 12 are bent backwardly, providing top and bottom flanges for the buckle. Adjacent one end of each of the flanges 11 and12 there are provided opposed lugs or lips 13 providing a guide for the free end 14 of the belt 13 upon inserting the free end into the uckle. An aperture 15 is formed in the face 10 of the buckle and top and bottom grooves 16 are formed in the buckle at the top and bottom of the aperture. The material of the face 10 about the aperture may be thickened, as indicatedat 1?, although this is not essential to the belt buckle of the improved construction. At the sides of the aperture 15 concavities l8 formed in the material forming the face 10. The aperture 15 is ada Jted to receive the emblem carrying member, shown in igs. a and The em. lem carrying mem- "er may be of any suitable construction and is preferably circular in form, although not essentially so. It is provided with flanges or flange portions 19 which are adapted to asi sume aposition contiguous to the front surface of the face 10 when the emblem carrying member is applied to the buckle. A tubular portion or part 20 is integral with the fian e portions 19 and is of such size as to permit it to enter the aperture 15. The tubular portion or part- 20 has beads 21 formed upon its top and bottom adapted to enter the grooves 16 to prevent rotation of the emblem carrying member within the aperture 15. Upon the sides of the tubular part 20 there are formed projections 22. These projections may be formed in any desirable manner, and in some instances may be formed by pressing out portions of the tubular portion 20. In the present instance these projections are shown as being merely lOO formed upon the exterior of the tubular part. The projections are so arranged and of such size that they are capable of being sprung so as to enter and occupy the concavities 18. The resiliency of the tubular part 20, which need not be very great, is sufiicientto enable the projections 22 to be sprung into the concavities 18. This permits the emblem carrying member to be readily attached to and detached from the buckle.

The emblem carrying member may carry any suitable kind of emblem, initial, scroll, design, or in some cases may even consist of a jewel mounting. The purpose of the emblem carrying member is to provide any type of ornamentation, which may be desired by a purchaser upon his belt buckle. In the present instance, Fig. 1 shown the emblem consisting of the initial T. In Fig. 1 the emblem is shown as being the letter A.

As shown upon the drawings, the materials of the emblem carrying member about the initial or design may be cutaway, so that the free end 14 of the belt B provides a backing visible about the emblem.

The improved locking device for the belt buckle consists of a pintlc 23 which is cured between the top and bottom flanges 11 and 12 at the end of the buckle remote from the lips 13. Upon this pintle there is pivoted a belt securing member or eye 2i of conventional construction. The lock ing member, indicated at 25, is also pivoted upon the pintle 2'3, and this locking member provides a plurality of longitudinally extending teeth 26 adjacent one of its ends which are adapted to grasp or engage upon the inside surface of the free end 14 of the belt B. Arcuate slots 27 are formed in the flanges 11 and 12 and pins 28 extend through these arcuate slots so as to facilitate manipulation of the locking member from the top and bottom flanges.

The feature of the invention resides in the fact that the strap securing member 24 and the locking member are rotatable about the same axis or upon the same pintle 23, but are rotatable independently of each other. It has been heretofore experienced that when the locking member 26 is made integral or is rigidly secured to the strap securing member 21, movement of the body tends to swing the strap securing member 24, moving the locking member which has been heretofore constructed rigidly with it, and thus loosening the belt. By the improved construction the same pintle is used for pivotally mounting both of these parts, but they are capable of movement independently of each other, so that movement of the body will not loosen the buckle. The locking member is so constructed that it acts as a type of wedge, wedging the free end of the belt B against the face 10 of the buckle, when it is attempted to pull the free end 17': through the buckle. By swinging the locking member 25 by means of the pins 28, it can be caused to disengage from the free end l t and will permit the belt to be loosened. However, as will be readily appreciated, the locking member will not permit loosening of the belt unless it is the in tention of the wearer to do so.

It will be understood that various changes in the detail of construction may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A belt buckle having an aperture formed in its face, there being concavitics formed in the buckle at the sides of said aperture, and an emblem -arrying member having a part adapted to be inserted into said aperture provided with portions adapted to occupy said concavities, whereby the emblem carrying member may be readily attached to or detached from the buckle.

2. A belt buckle having an aperture formed therein, there being concavities formed in the sides of the buckle about said aperture, and an emblem carrying member having a part adapted to be inserted into said aperture, said part being provided with project-ions adapted to be sprung into said concavities.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

H ARR-Y HARTMAN. 

